Vegetarianism

I'm a vegetarian for life! <3


It's not really about whether or not humans have evolved to eat meat. It's already scientifically proven that we are meant to be herbivores-study our digestive system, and our teeth, if you don't believe me. It's the fact that the food industry is so cruel and inhumane towards animals.



Personally, I think murder is evil, no matter what species it is your killing, it's still murder. But if humans feel the need to eat meat, they should do so the way that Native Americans and other ancient society's went about doing it-they had the utmost respect for all animals, they never inhumanely tortured animals, they would only kill what they needed, they would pray for the soul of the creature and thank it, and they would not let a single part of that creature go waste. But if humans are unwilling to do so, then it is completely wrong to eat meat.



Vegetarianism is the right thing to do, any other lifestyle is mindblowingly wrong. Eating meat is crueltly toward animals, destroying our environment (deforestation, greenhouse gases causing global warming, food shortages, etc), and it is unhealthy for our bodies.



Here's some of my favourite quotes:



"If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian."

Paul McCartney


"While we ourselves are the living graves of murdered beasts, how can we expect any ideal conditions on this earth?" -George Bernard Shaw

"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.-Mahatma Ghandhi

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who deal likewise with their fellow men. Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them, but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission - to be of service to them wherever they require it." -St.Francis of Assisi
...
"The eating of meat extinguishes
the seed of great compassion." -Buddha

"The love for all living creatures
is the most noble attribute of man."-Charles Darwin

As long as men massacre animals, they will kill each other. Indeed, he who sows the seeds of murder and pain cannot reap the joy of love.
—Pythagoras

When a man wants to murder a tiger, he calls it sport; when a tiger wants to murder him, he calls it ferocity.
—George Bernard Shaw

When a human being kills an animal for food, he is neglecting his own hunger for justice. Man prays for mercy, but is unwilling to extend it to others. Why then should man expect mercy from God? It is unfair to expect something that you are not willing to give.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer

A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. And to act so is immoral.
—Leo Tolstoy

Even in the worm that crawls in the earth there glows a divine spark. When you slaughter a creature, you slaughter God.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer

MrsNorrington said:

Vegetarianism is the right thing to do, any other lifestyle is mindblowingly wrong. Eating meat is crueltly toward animals, destroying our environment (deforestation, greenhouse gases causing global warming, food shortages, etc), and it is unhealthy for our bodies.

Click to expand...

This is the kind of response that really ticks me off. If you want to refrain from eating meat due to what you think morality is or isn't, feel free to do so. However, you have no right to say that the rest of us are immoral for believing otherwise. I give blood four times a year and have donated over $200 to the Red Cross in the past three years (despite not having a steady source of income). I don't care to be told that I'm a bad human being for choosing to live my life the way I do. And what about people who eat meat out of necessity? Are you going to tell the nomads in Africa that they're evil, horrible people because they are physically unable to survive without hunting?

It is THIS attitude that makes me so hostile toward many vegans. Feel free to live how you wish to live, but don't try to force your moral system on others.

MrsNorrington said:

Personally, I think murder is evil

Click to expand...

...

So anyway, I agree with twocows. Whenever I've told someone irl who isn't vegetarian that I am one, I've been met with this preconceived idea of vegetarians being these uppity, earmuff-wearing hipsters who look down on the feeble minded meat-eaters (meaters?) and then promptly walk away with a Bob Dylan record in one hand and a celery stick in the other...
or whatever.

My point is this - MrsNorrington, you can't preach that eating meat is mindblowingly wrong and that it causes deforestation, global warming and food shortages. Not because it's incorrect (which it is), but because, like, people then assume I think that too.

,_,

I have no problems with the non preachy Vegetarians hey more meat for me.
as for me being evil for eating meat hardly its not cruel. is a lion some evil demonic creature because it eats a Gazelle ? Call me evil if I eat you okay. plus if everyone stopped eating meat we would starve we cannot produce enough food (Vegies/Fruits) to sustain the earths population, also Main source of protein is meat I'm not one for rabbit starvation so....yeah.

I used to respect vegetarians until I had one as a housemate- then I discovered that they can be very narrow minded, rude and insensitive to other people's beliefs (diet or otherwise). Don't forget Adolf Hitler the evilest man who has ever lived was a vegetarian! Having said that- I understand that's just a minority of people as with anything. My point is just cos they are vegetarian doesn't mean they are nice and sensitive.

My personal beliefs is to try everything- I embraced the French culture recently and tried snails. Delicious!! :D

wobbadude1 said:

Don't forget Adolf Hitler the evilest man who has ever lived was a vegetarian!

Click to expand...

What flawless logic. By making a personal decision not to eat meat, a decision which does not affect you or any other meat-eater in any way whatsoever, all vegetarians are comparable to a man responsible for the deaths of 17 million people. Brilliant.

Well guys, guess I should go indulge myself in a hamburger. I mean y'know, it's not like I want blood on my hands. /sarcasm

...Get the hell out.

Charizard★ said:

How can vegetarians be rude and incentive? Thats like saying, Carnivores are mindless eating machines.

Click to expand...

The same way anybody can be rude and insensitive.

I'd like it if everyone who's had a bad encounter with a vegetarian could think of it as a bad encounter with a person who got on their nerves and who only happened to be a vegetarian rather than think that it was bad because the person was vegetarian and that being a vegetarian turns you into an annoying person. Or in other words, that self-righteous people are just like that and they'll find one thing or another to be self-righteous about no matter what.

Yeah, that'll be the day. Now I'm going to go eat a salad.

twocows said:

This is the kind of response that really ticks me off. If you want to refrain from eating meat due to what you think morality is or isn't, feel free to do so. However, you have no right to say that the rest of us are immoral for believing otherwise. I give blood four times a year and have donated over $200 to the Red Cross in the past three years (despite not having a steady source of income). I don't care to be told that I'm a bad human being for choosing to live my life the way I do. And what about people who eat meat out of necessity? Are you going to tell the nomads in Africa that they're evil, horrible people because they are physically unable to survive without hunting?

It is THIS attitude that makes me so hostile toward many vegans. Feel free to live how you wish to live, but don't try to force your moral system on others.

Click to expand...

Not trying to upset you. I won't hate you if you eat meat.

But it is true that it is morally wrong. How is it okay to kill animals, how is it okay to destroy the planet, and how is it okay to hurt your own body?

MrsNorrington said:

Personally, I think murder is evil, no matter what species it is your killing, it's still murder. But if humans feel the need to eat meat, they should do so the way that Native Americans and other ancient society's went about doing it-they had the utmost respect for all animals, they never inhumanely tortured animals, they would only kill what they needed, they would pray for the soul of the creature and thank it, and they would not let a single part of that creature go waste. But if humans are unwilling to do so, then it is completely wrong to eat meat.

Click to expand...

You see this is why I hate how native americans are presented in the american school system. Do you know how they hunted Buffalo (strictly speaking they're Bison, but meh)? They cause a herd of them to stampede and lead them towards a cliff. Mass death ensues. Don't tell me they used all of the animals either. They may have had uses for all parts, but they didn't harvest an entire herd from top-to-bottom, they just used what was needed.
So I ask you, is that more humane than a bolt of electricity through the brain which is never felt?

MrsNorrington said:

Vegetarianism is the right thing to do, any other lifestyle is mindblowingly wrong. Eating meat is crueltly toward animals, destroying our environment (deforestation, greenhouse gases causing global warming, food shortages, etc), and it is unhealthy for our bodies.

Click to expand...

I'll give you deforestation and depending on your moral standpoint, animal cruelty, but as for global warming, it would far, far, far worse if no meat beef were eaten. You see with the amount of cattle there is in the world now, they account for a huge portion of the greenhouse gasses emitted, but if we stopped eating them, then their primary predator would be gone causing a massive bloom in the population, in turn increasing methane released. Also, the population bloom would mean that too much vegetation would be eaten, leaving less for other herbivorous species, thus upsetting the ecosystem.

MrsNorrington said:

But it is true that it is morally wrong. How is it okay to kill animals, how is it okay to destroy the planet, and how is it okay to hurt your own body?

Click to expand...

1. Morals are not in any way universal.
2. It is just as okay for us to kill animals as it is for other predators. Especially as we do it humanely nowadays.
3. See above comment about global warming.
4. You mean like how on average, vegetarians are lacking in certain vitamins?

MrsNorrington said:

Not trying to upset you. I won't hate you if you eat meat.

But it is true that it is morally wrong. How is it okay to kill animals, how is it okay to destroy the planet, and how is it okay to hurt your own body?

Click to expand...

Eating meat is not even in the slightest morally wrong. We are animals, and we eat meat like every other carnivore on the planet. That's how things work. Morals do not exist in nature.

I'd never be able to do it, my spirit is just to weak to give up chicken. I know it's perfectly reasonable to be one, but chicken is the only thing holding me back from being a vegetarian/vegan.

Metatron said:

....Very debatable. Anatomically, humans are far more similar to herbivores than carnivores or omnivores. We have the same intestinal tract length, stomach acidity, alkaline saliva (weaker digestive enzymes ), etc as herbivores. Though we are capable of digesting the flesh of other animals, that does not mean that we are biologically suited to do so.

Click to expand...

Our inability to digest cellulose would be pretty crippling, humans would be crappy as being anything of either side. We also have the teeth of omnivores and we have eyes in front of our heads instead of to the side.

It wouldn't bother me as much if humans would humanly do it. But they don't, because they are too greedy.

MrsNorrington said:

But it is true that it is morally wrong. How is it okay to kill animals, how is it okay to destroy the planet, and how is it okay to hurt your own body?

Click to expand...

1. How is it acceptable to kill animals?
I think a better question is, why is it not acceptable to kill animals? Animals lack conscience, emotion, or moral understanding. And all known animal species except apes, elephants, and bottlenose dolphins lack self-awareness. In my eyes, killing something that has never been and is never capable of being self-aware is no different than destroying equipment or property: bad to do without reason, but acceptable if it benefits humans.
2. How is it acceptable to destroy the planet?
Of course it's not acceptable to destroy the planet, but there are laws and standards in place to prevent any damage brought on by the meat industry. There are many industries that contribute far more to the destruction of the environment than the meat industry (the automotive industry, to name one). And there are tribes in Africa and South America whose existence relies on what is known as a "slash and burn" lifestyle, which is extremely harmful to the environment, but necessary for their survival.
3. How is it acceptable to hurt your body?
Provided you understand the consequences, it is your body to do what you please with, and as long as it doesn't bring harm to others there is no problem with it. Personal freedom is one of the core values that free societies are based upon, and nobody should have the right to take that away when it does not bring harm to others.

MrsNorrington said:

It wouldn't bother me as much if humans would humanly do it. But they don't, because they are too greedy.

Click to expand...

If you have ever been to a meat factory or slaughterhouse, you would know that the way meat animals are killed is perfectly humane, if rather unsightly. Death occurs instantly and the animal feels no pain (not that they could understand it if they did).

Metatron said:

What flawless logic.

Click to expand...

I have met 5 vegetarians in my life. 3 of them are idiots (not cos of their dieting beliefs- they just are). The other 2- nice down to earth people. Finish reading my point. Just cos someone IS a vegetarian doesn't mean they are a friendly person.

Charizard★ said:

How can vegetarians be rude and incentive? Thats like saying, Carnivores are mindless eating machines.

Click to expand...

If you met my ex-housemate you would withdraw that statement! Also, technically we're omnivores. We eat both.

Scarf said:

The same way anybody can be rude and insensitive.
.

Click to expand...

Thank you! Well said! Exactly my point!

I don't mind or care if anyone is vegetarian, since it's your choice and I should respect it at least, I love my meat and chicken.

I don't care whether you're a vegetarian or not. It's all the same to me. Just as I respect your lifestyle choice, you should mine.

What I want to talk about are people who eat chicken and fish and say that it's vegetarian -.-

This post is to help you get yer emblem, Chad.

Anyway, I am not a vegetarian, but I enjoy eating vegetarian-oriented foods a lot... Even vegan foods sometime, but that's another story. There's just something enthralling about eating meat substitute. Though, I don't get enough protein, even through vegetarian-friendly foods.